I take John Maynard's point about the brawling mass that is the English, but at least in days gone by - not so long ago when I was doing my apprenticeship in the 1960s - the intelligentsia still had enough clout to clout us and get away with it. We brawlers were still doffing caps even in the mid-1960s. Nowadays it's the mass that has turned feral, while the intelligentsia fear for their heads and write a lot for the newspapers.

Mike Mitchell, Spalding, England

It is significant that such a comment should have come from a Scotsman, Mr Mercer from Lanark. Scottish public sector education has always been open to all talent and has been free - and strict and has produced sound results - not only in the classroom.

Peter Stallybrass, Vienna, Austria

Addressing primarily the "Media Mafia": I was of a similar mind to you at one point, but then I realised I'd rather respect other people's right to walk around on the streets without being intimidated rather than wear my hood unless it's raining.

Even then, I take it off in doors because it's polite to show your face when your in other people's property.

To the topic at hand, I agree wholeheartedly with the lack of the point in exams. It seems that I will spend a significant amount of my life revising for a qualification that will later be slated. In theory, I would consider myself quite justified in not bothering at all. It used to be the case that you got good exam results and that was brilliant. Nowadays it seems that you get a good grade and you get condemning looks because you haven't earned it.

Sex, drugs and disliking school - well maybe if we liked school we wouldn't need those releases?

Michael Laughton, Runcorn, United Kingdom

If I were a child in this country, I would like to be bad. Why not? Kids are encouraged to be like this! By adult! Because they don't feel that if they smoke, drink and have sex will cause them trouble, that is just teenager symptoms, they do not have to take responsibily for that. Some teengager may already have babies, and they are even paid by the govenment to take care of the baby. While my husbund and I are both well educated(master degree), and we both work now. But we don't dare to have baby. Because we want our child to grow up in the right situation, while now we could not afford. So people who will to take responsibilities for their next generation could not have children, while people who take responsibility as bullshit are encouraged to have more? What is wrong with this society? And how are we expecting the future British teengagers be good, if most of them grow up in that kind of family(teenager mum)?
.

Sophie, Bath, Uk

It is just a consequence of the welfare state. Generations of people who are born of casual relations, zero discipline, zero male influence (often zero female influence-Good old gran). They not been taught any values such as understanding what authority is, and what an education is for. They will be taught by sub-standard teachers who are just there so these anti-social animals can be baby sat. The social workers (accursed breed) will make sure that their first missdeeds will go unpunished.Then the next etc. Then bingo time for prison. Wait for thewhite paper to spend more money, hire more 'experts' and zippo will be done as it has been since the sixties.

Desmond Taylor, Houston, TX

Since the Thatcher era, British society seems to have modelled itself increasingly on the USA.
It should, therefore, come as little surprise that the two countries sit, side by side, on the 'happiness' league table-
at the bottom.

John Terris, Perpignan, France

It's all pretty silly really.
Britain (England) was ever thus : a brawling mass of ill-educated, undisciplined, willful citizens, precariously controlled by a thin sliver of ruthless, patricians, given respectability by an equally thin sliver of marvellously civilised and gifted "intelligentsia".
That's what gives us our energy, vitality and creativity.

John Maynard, Cranbrook, Kent

Sean O'Rourke claims we expect our children to grow up too quickly. Whether or not he is correct or not, this is nothing new. Just 60 years ago my father expected me to do tractor driving at weekends when I was 10! My grandfather left school in 1886 aged 10, his employer, a farmer, said he was to take a cartload of swedes to Grimsby market, his horse was to follow the foreman. Never having been to Grimsby [ 8 miles away] he got lost in one of the rougher areas, was stopped by half a dozen housewives and all his load stolen.

DAVID VINTER, LOUTH, LINCS, UK.

The coolinyour code site cannot be heard! Its very bitty in sound!

sarah Davis, Bath,

I have only been in the UK for about 5 years, but in that time have realised how teachers and adults in general do not want to discipline children for fear of losing their job or worse, getting sued. I thought that this is/was a sad state of affairs, however, I accepted it as I thought that was the general concensus of the British public.

However, reading the reader comments here on the Times and BBC's news website, it has occurred to me that the vast majority of Brits DO want their children disciplined (within reason, of course). Why did this country get into such a situation then? Why were the politicians and MPs, who were supposed to be representatives of the people, be allowed to outlaw discipline? All the hoo-haa about "trauma" to children is overstated. I have met many law-abiding older Brits who were smacked by their teachers and parents when it was warranted.

Didnt do them any harm, did it?

Chee, Coventry,

It's no wonder that children aren't very happy. I'm sure that in other countries exams and qualifications mean something more than here in the UK. At school, lack of discipline means exams are seen as something of a joke, and the idea of a 'proper' job seems pointless when mum does fine bringing up 5 kids on state funds. Tony wants every child to go to University, every student to have a degree, making degrees more and more worthless. In today's society it is harder and harder to see 'the point'. Some parents don't relate to their children enough, some too much, forcing tennis and violin lessons without listening to what the child wants. There's no 'want' to do anything. It seems to be leading to a culture of live for the moment, because life gets worse as you grow older. If this mentality could be changed to a more optimistic outlook, then maybe we wouldn't be at the bottom of the tables. Give children something to look forward to!

trent uni boy, Nottingham, UK

Around London it is clear to see that many teenagers these days have no respect for anyone around them and no care for their behaviour which they inflict on people. I think that this is almost entirely down to the parents. People think having children is a right regardless of their social or economic situation. People need to realise that if they can't afford to have children without receiving state benefits, or don't have the time to raise them themselves they shouldn't have children. The fact that the government provides such benefits that some people are financialy better off by having children and not working is horrendous. Why should my taxes pay for people who can't be bothered to get of their back sides and work, so have children knowing they are/will have to be on benefits? Attitudes like this are partly to blame for the attitudes of todays young and will be repeated in following generations until someone in government takes their finger out and tells people don't have what you can't look after.

Eleanor, London, England

I do believe that society expects children to grow up too quickly in some respects these days. Children are given many more responsibilities than they ever have, and I feel this in turn makes them feel like adults. The constant emphasis is no longer on childhood but on adulthood and once this is engrained in a persons mind they will inevitably act like adults in all aspects of life. And anyway, all findings must be up into context, these figures only say that these are the activities this country's youth do more than those of other countries, they do not prove that this is at an excessive or unhealthy amount. But most importantly, if children are expected to behave like adults and are trusted to do so then it should be their problem, not anybody else’s. I don’t like the sound of that either, something should be done, bring back childhood!

Sean O'Rourke, Forfar, Scotland

After 12 years primary teaching, an experience I valued greatly, I have one big criticism to make on the political attitude to the classroom. Blair's spin is not "education, education, education". It is " reorganise, reorganise, reorganise." In all the spiel that has been trumpeted on schools and education, I have not seen one mention of the training of teachers, or the standard of the training colleges. What matters more than anything else in the classroom is the personality of the teacher. This is an aspect of the profession that is not understood and has been largely ignored.

John Lloyd, Blandford , UK / Dorset

We are a group of teenagers studying the media.
we would like to comment on this issue as we feel quite strongly about it as we live in the UK (cornwall) and we have had many different experiences whilst growing up in this country.
the general concensus amoung us is although Britain may not be the best place to grow into 'young adults' it cannot be worse than America, blair may be a little annoying but he isnt BUSH!!!!
We would also like to comment on teenage gun crime in London, although it feels a million miles from our perfect county, it is apalling and something needs to be done!!
And.... why should we have to remove hoody tops in shopping centres.... it is our right to wear them!! We are not yob's- jus normal people expressing our opinions through our dress sense.

Media Mafia, Launceston, Cornwall

Single-parented men account for 95% of inmates in California prisons whose budget is larger than France, Germany and U.K.'s penal costs combined. Emotional trauma at puberty (age 12) occurs in at least 60% of those in prison, pointing to undiagnosed teen depression promoting addictive behaviours, as self-treatment attempts that "go wrong". The solution is not prison reform. The "anti-natal' sociopathy of selfishness and materialism that subverts the importance of parenthood in the West presages the end to the dominace of our cultural inheritance.

RP Iacono MD, Madison, Mississippi, USA

Children who do not have consistent, firm, loving parents are at a great disadvantage in school and in larger society. This is especially true for children who have not yet acquired a healthy passion for something in life (sports, Scouts, acting, art, reading, hunting, etc.) that requires sustained discipline and sustained postponement of various later rewards. Above all, kids who have never had adult authorities (including both parents) say "no" to them and make it stick will never learn to say "no" to themselves and make it stick. They never learn to distinquish their true needs from their immediate wants, and their unchecked passion for transient "wants" will serve them badly. They will never in any significant way really become citizens of any country; they will always be subjects, subjected to their wants and immediate gratifications. In short, they will remain infantilized children, people whose passions drive them to live for the day. Result: disaster for everyone.

James, Jacksonville, Illinois U. S.

The governments relaxed policies on issues such as Divorce, Discipline and Drugs is the reason the u.k is failing its children. Divorce, although sometimes unavoidable, should be discouraged, teachers should be given the power to discipline children without fear of reprisals from liberal elites and the courts must be tougher on dealers and addicts. As a recent school leaver, I have seen the effect of the three D’s on my peers and how unhappy and troubled some of them have become.

Gareth, Portsmouth, Great Britain

Yes, Britain has failed it's children. As a 16-year-old, I feel I must comment. Adults treat us with disrespect and it seems that no matter how hard we try and be polite, we teenagers are treated like criminals. As under 18s, we are also complete social outcasts who are disenfranchised. We A-level students have people like Ruth Kelly and Alan Johnson messing our education system up and we must sit back and watch them do it whilst we are denied the vote. In my country of birth, Germany, teenagers are actually treated by adults as human beings rather than dirt. They are also allowed to vote in council elections at 16 so politicians cannot afford to ignore their needs (this may be why German happiness rates were higher than British ones).

Elin Edwards, Denbigh, Wales

As an actual British child, I feel I must comment on this. I am quite happy, however, hardly anybody I know is. It's all melodrama though, like 'my mum won't let me go to the gig on saturday, i hate her so much'. This is because we expect too much. Furthermore, the substance abuse is probably a result of being unhappy, and because teenagers are known to be unhappy, volotile creatures we are ignored. I say this because where I live there is nothing interesting to do for teenagers, subsequently, people are so bored they feel the only way they can possibly have any fun is to get completely smashed.
Another point is that because of surveys like this, everyone assumes all British teens are yobs and drunks and would nick anything if it wasn't nailed down. This irritates me because I am quite a mature and respectable fourteen year old, yet people such as shop keepers feel they can treat me like the dirt from their shoe. Thus the cycle continues.

Robyn Haddon, St.Albans,

Why do you think British children are the unhappiest in the West? You should see some of the "charmers" that we have here in The US!!

Kim Righetti, Upland, Calif., USA

The way this nation is constantly being run down by it's media, it's hardly surprising people are depressed, despite the fact that we are the fourth wealthiest in the world. Perhaps a bit of credit where credit is due might cheer us all up a bit!

Harry, Stirling, UK

What can we expect from children when their parents were educated in a laisser faire ,dicipline and value free environment where free expression was encouraged and personal responsibility actively discouraged.Teachers were reprimanded by headteachers-and often verbally abused,even attacked by irate parents-if they tried to demand effort and application from pupils.Unfortunately this is a class issue-look at the school results in all inner cities-and those children most affected are tomorrows underclass.

graham mercer, lanark, scotland

Yes, Britain has failed its children. The children have no idea about right or wrong. The teachers are not allowed to punish them in any way, or even raise their voice. The parents spend less time with them and hence feel guilty about informing them about right and wrong. They let children do whatever they want. As for the rest of the society, if anyone so much as looks at a child, he/she will be labelled as a paedophile. The social workers seem to live on a different planet, altogether. They cannot even prevent a child from being killed, so how can they prevent a child from indulging in bad behaviour.

Vinay Mehra, Purley, Surrey